Mildred and Maud were waiting in the hall when Hope emerged from her darkened room. With a quick wave of her wand and some hushed muttering, Mildred and Maud jumped up and down without making a noise. "Extreme!" they whispered. Hope motioned for them to be quiet and follow her. Miss HArdbroom must have been checking the kitchen because they didn't run into her at all. A rush of relief hit the girls as they stepped out into the cool crisp night. Hope savored the smoky smell of the air for a minute before following Mildred and Maud to the end of the yard. Just like they had agreed they kept one foot in the yard while peeking outside the gate.

In the distance a faint light was starting to twist itself around the clouds in the east. The girls watched as the light exploded into colors they had never seen in a spectacular show.

"Oh!" Maud cried out. "Yeah Maud I know the colors are fascinating," said Hope who didn't want to be interrupted from this show. "Well I'm sure the colors aren't as fascinating as your excuse for being out here so late at night," a deep voice boomed from behind them. Hope squeezed her eyes tight because she recognized this particular voice. She took her time turning around, eyes wide with fright.

Miss HArdbroom paced like a tiger in a cage while Miss Cackle sleepily grasped a chair for support. "Honestly girls, you know that the rules forbid being out this late," Miss Cackle said with a yawn. "And let's not forget, Miss Cackle, that Mildred is about one detention away from being expelled. I think she should be expelled right now. This is a clear disregard for superiority and….." "I was my fault Miss HArdbroom," Hope exploded, "I really wanted to see this eclipse and I didn't want to go alone because I'm afraid of the dark so I dragged Mildred and Maud out of bed." Miss Cackle look almost relieved at this news, "Well Miss Hardbroom, you certainly can't expect me to expel Mildred after such a small incident as this; but be warned Mildred if you slip up again we will consider expulsion." Miss HArdbroom looked displeased at this news and stared at Amelia with a raised eyebrow. "Well Miss HArdbroom, I'll leave you to sort out their punishments." And with that she quickly headed for bed.

Since Hope was the ringleader of the venture Mildred and Maud had lines while she got a Saturday detention cleaning out the potion storage room. She look shocked at the thought of being trapped in a dirty little room on what promised to be a bright and beautiful Saturday, but she took the punishment because anything was better than being responsible for Mildred being expelled.

When Hope woke up on Saturday the sunlight was making patterns on her blanket. She pulled the soft dark wool over her eyes to shut out the day. Yuck, she hated getting up early. She was most definitely a night owl. She pondered, under her covers, the origin of the word night owl. How did they think of that term? Maybe someone that stayed up late frequently always saw an owl. With all that thinking her head started to stop buzzing and she pulled back the covers and got out of bed.

Somehow she shuffled her way into the dungeon ready for a whole Saturday full of smelly potion ingredients and just about the grouchiest person on the planet. Little did she know that her near future held a situation far worse than writing labels on jars….

Author's Note: yeah you knew a detention with HB couldn't be as simple as it looked could it?